Register your interest now at www.HCCH125.org and receive all the latest information about the global conference “HCCH 125 — Ways Forward: Challenges and Opportunities in an Increasingly Connected World”.

This global conference gathers world-leading experts who will discuss the opportunities for, and challenges to, private international law. Through interactive “Davos Style” sessions, participants will not only hear from these experts, but can also participate actively in each session.

The key note speaker Prof Jürgen Basedow, emeritus at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, will be joined by a stellar cast of confirmed moderators and speakers, including Sir Lawrence Collins, Lord Collins of Mapesbury; Professor Diego Fernandez Arroyo, Professor Richard Fentiman and many other distinguished authorities, hailing from practice, judiciary and government. The up-to-date list of all experts will be available soon on the website.

The event, which will be held in Hong Kong SAR, China, from 18 -20 April 2018, and is organised by the HCCH with the generous support of the Department of Justice of Hong Kong SAR, will give all participants the unique opportunity to hear from world-leading experts and contribute actively to a discussion of the future of private international law and the evolution of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, which celebrates its 125th Anniversary in 2018.

Session 1 – Discussion on Private International Law in the 21st Century

The focus of this Davos Style session is deliberately broad: it will consider the role private international Law does, will and/or should play in the 21st Century This session will set the scene for the conference, provide the bigger picture, and highlight global trends in private international law as well as the relevance of this field to globalization and an ‘open society’. In addition to the general role of private international law in an increasingly connected world, and its importance to facilitating protection of human rights (with a particular focus on family issues and child protection) and to promoting trade, commerce and investment, moderators and expert panellists may also offer thought-provoking insights into some of the cutting-edge topics to encourage a lively and stimulating dialogue with the audience on issues such as the relationship between public and private international law generally, and what, if any, the consequences of a possible convergence may be; as well as on private international law as global normative order or as governance tool.

Lord Collins of Mapesbury (Lawrence Collins) (Moderator)

Prof Jürgen Basedow

Prof Richard Fentiman

Prof Diego P. Fernández Arroyo

Prof Horatia Muir-Watt

6:00 pm

Group photo

7:00 pm

Welcome reception

Thursday 19 April 2018

8:30 am

Registration

9:15 am

Session 2 – International Family Law & Child Protection

This Session will also be conducted “Davos Style”. Its aim is to delve deeply into the importance of private international law in the area of international family law and child protection. Moderators and expert panellists will consider how private international law does, and can continue to, facilitate protection of human rights, with a particular focus on family issues and child protection. The session’s starting point are the existing HCCH instruments in this area; however the Session will go beyond that, and identify areas, and ways, in which private international law can continue to make a significant contribution to the protection of children, or the specific issues besetting cross-border families, in the future.

The Hon Diana Bryant AO QC (Moderator)

Prof Léna Gannagé

Ms Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE, QC (Hon)

Prof Zaleha Kamarudin

Prof Nieve Rubaja

10:45 am

Coffee break

11:15 am

Session 3 – International Commercial and Finance Law

Session 3 will also be conducted “Davos Style”. Its aim is to highlight the increasing importance of private international law in the area of international commercial and finance law. Moderators and expert panellists will consider how private international law does, and can continue to, promote cross-border economic activity in multi-jurisdictional settings, including by improving certainty and predictability of outcome, both at the transactional and dispute resolution/litigation stage. The Session will use as starting point the past and current work of the HCCH in this area. In addition, the Session will seek to identify new areas that may benefit from private international law, including artificial intelligence, autonomous decision making systems, smart contracting, the internet and block chain.

Prof Richard Fentiman (Moderator)

Prof Mercedes Albornoz

Sir William Blair QC

Prof Francisco J. Garcimartín

Mr David Goddard QC

Prof José Moreno Rodríguez

12:45 pm

Lunch

2:30 pm

Session 4 – International Legal Cooperation & Civil Procedure

This Session, again following the “Davos Style”, focuses on issues relating to international legal cooperation and cross-border civil procedure. The moderator and expert panellists will consider the significant value of existing cooperation mechanisms, and may explore ways in which innovative improvements, including dedicated electronic cooperation platforms, can further enhance existing and future regimes. In relation to international civil procedure, the Session will highlight the worth of the very successful Hague Civil Procedure Conventions, and discuss possible further areas in which bridging private international law rules would be of value in light of a continued lack of harmonised civil procedure rules. The Session may also consider how private international law and civil procedure interrelate, including if, and if so, to what extent, private international law can be considered a precursor to harmonised civil procedure rules

Mr Bill Fritzlen (Moderator)

Prof Feng Guo

Prof Eugenio Hernández-Bretón

Prof Burkhard Hess

Prof Peter Zablud AM, RFD

4:00 pm

Coffee break

4:30 pm

Session 5 – The role of the HCCH I – challenges and opportunities: Presentations

The short and informal presentations delivered in this Session will offer introductory remarks concerning the challenges and opportunities for the HCCH. These remarks may link to, and draw on the issues canvassed in, the preceding Sessions. Moreover, presenters may focus on the HCCH itself, including its workings and operations as well as the sustainable growth of the Organisation, and its sustained capacity to service the global needs in the area of private international law. Central to the Session would be how the HCCH will remain the pre-eminent organisation that develops high-quality solutions in the area of private international law, considering people’s international mobility as well as the cross-border flow of goods and capital. This session may also consider how the HCCH may capitalise on synergies that can be generated by the Organisation’s targeted cooperation with other international organisations. The presentations will prepare the ground for dialogues among all participants, both of which will serve as the basis for the three breakout sessions that follow the next morning.

Mr Andrew Walter (Moderator)

Prof Richard Frimpong Oppong

Prof Yuko Nishitani

Justice Fausto Pocar

Prof Linda Silberman

7:00 – 9:00 pm

Conference dinner (with dinner speaker)

Friday 20 April 2018

8:30 am

Registration

9:15 am

Session 6 – The role of the HCCH II – challenges and opportunities: Breakouts

This Session will comprise three breakout sessions. Mirroring Sessions 2 – 4, the breakout sessions deal with International Family Law & Child Protection; International Legal Cooperation & Civil Procedure; and International Commercial and Financial Law respectively. Moreover, the breakout sessions will also be informed by the presentations made in Session 5. Led by experienced moderators, the breakout sessions provide all participants with a forum to reflect further on the future of private international law, and the role the HCCH will play in that regard in the next two decades. The moderators will guide the discussions not only with a view to identifying specific challenges and opportunities, but also with a view to finding solutions to overcome the challenges and to harness these opportunities. A report of each breakout session will be presented to the final plenary Session 7, where they will serve as the basis for the development of the key conclusions.

Breakout 1: International Family Law & Child Protection

Breakout 2: International Commercial and Finance Law

Breakout 3: International Legal Cooperation & Civil Procedure

11:00 am

Coffee break

11:30 am

Session 7 – The role of the HCCH II – challenges and opportunities: Conclusions

The final plenary session presents the findings of the breakouts, and draws together the various threads and themes that emerged during the past two days. The moderators and panelists will discuss these, as well as the outcomes of the preceding sessions, and offer some key conclusions. It is envisaged that these key conclusions will significantly inform the development of the next Strategic Plan of the HCCH.